District 0
by Dare2Dream13
Summary: District 0: the place where the different ones go. The ones who pose a threat. The ones who are meant to be forgotten. Kelcie is a young prodigy who resides there, sheltered from the evils of the Capitol. But when she sneaks away one day and meets a strange girl in the woods, she quickly develops a burning hatred for these wretched "Hunger Games." And she's preparing to end it all.
1. Prologue

_I'm bleeding out,_

_So if the last thing that I do,_

_Is bring you down,_

_I'll bleed out for you,_

_So I bare my skin,_

_And I count my sins,_

_And I close my eyes,_

_And I take it in,_

_I'm bleeding out,_

_I'm bleeding out for you,_

_For you._

It was quiet, very, very quiet; too quiet. The kind that makes your skin prickle uncomfortably and your heart pound harder than it usually does. The kind that feels like a held breath, as if the world is just waiting for something terrible to happen. The kind that haunts you until sound finally fills up its emptiness.

And suddenly, a scream cuts through the air, high-pitched and blood-curdling. It rings out and echoes eerily, bouncing off buildings and cobblestone streets, and then…it ends. It ends just as abruptly as it began. And so the silence remains.

Somewhere, maybe a street or two away, the source of that scream is kneeling on the floor inside her home, sobs racking her thin frame as she refuses to look at the sight before her. It _couldn't _be happening, and she never thought this day would come. But now that it has, no one is there to comfort her or wrap her in a hug and tell her it's alright. Even if someone still _did _love her enough to console her and say "Everything's going to be okay," then they might as well be telling a lie. Unfortunately, that's the most common untruth that this girl has ever heard. But it's what she told him every day, and now he's gone forever. Dead. And there's nothing she can do.

In resentment, she looks at the star-shaped blemish on the back of her hand and wishes with all her heart that it wasn't there. Then none of this would have happened and she'd be living a normal, happy life without having to worry about being hunted down and killed. And her brother would still be here. The last person she had left in her family. And now she was all alone, knowing full and well that nothing would ever be the same again, no matter how hard she tried to make it that way.

So she sat on the floor with the silence ringing in her ears, and she clenched her fists and closed her eyes and concentrated. Yes, the things the future had in store were horrible indeed. And yes, her genetic mutation would be replicated by her offspring. She could only hope that someone would eventually take a stand and save her race from destruction.

_True stories never have happy endings, _she told herself._ I can only hope that mine will._

**AN: Hi! Thanks for checking out my story. I'd love it if you left a review to tell me what you think, and just to let you know, my chapters will be longer than this in the future. The song at the beginning is Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons; it actually fits the storyline pretty well, so I guess you could say it's kind of like my self-appointed theme song. Anyway, thanks again for reading and I'll try to update in a day or two!**

**-Dare**


	2. Floor Ten

**AN: Welcome to chapter one of District 0! I thought I'd let you know that this story takes place a year before the 74****th**** Hunger Games, and I'd like to give a thank you to Annabeth-TheTributeThatLived for reviewing my prologue.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, just this storyline and a crazy imagination.**

Kelcie Stone opened her eyes and yawned, shielding her face with her hand in an effort to block out the light coming from the cracked bedroom door. Pensee must have left it open again, likely because yesterday Kelcie had slept until nine in the morning and missed half of training; this was punishable by being put in the Chamber if it happened more than once, and as Kelcie had an _almost _clean track-record, she'd hate to ruin it because she slept in.

The alarm clock on the nightstand announced with its glowing red numbers that it was almost six, which gave Kelcie plenty of time to get ready before breakfast. The first part of training began at seven and ended at twelve for lunch, then continued at one and ended again at two. Then it was back to the dorms for homework until dinner was served at six, and afterwards Kelcie and her roommate Pensee could do whatever they wanted until curfew at nine and lights-out at ten. This would be their schedule five days a week until they turned twenty, and then, finally, their training would be over.

Kelcie was used to this, however. She'd lived in District 0 for as long as she could remember and had been training for five years. She had no idea how she'd ended up here, as she had no parents or even any family whatsoever, so she'd always assumed that she'd been adopted. Still, no one really took care of her and never had. Pensee was her best friend and that was about it other than a few people she occasionally struck up a conversation with. Somehow, District 0 had never felt like home. Kelcie had a gut feeling that she belonged somewhere else and her parents were still alive, no matter what she was told by her instructors.

Every once in a while she would chart out a plan to leave the underground city and go explore the world beyond, but in the end she would always laugh at herself and think of the numerous amounts of guards that always watched the entrance. No way was she getting a glimpse outside until she finished training.

But now, all thoughts of sneaking aside, Kelcie swung her legs over the side of the bed and forced herself to get up. She could already hear Pensee clamoring around in her room, more than likely looking for some decent, unwrinkled clothes to wear. She had a bad habit of crumpling up her uniforms and stuffing them in a random drawer.

Kelcie opened her closet door and pulled out the standard training outfit: an army-green t-shirt with matching cargo pants, a brown leather belt, and thick socks for her combat boots. She changed and brushed her teeth before pulling her hair into a ponytail and heading out the door to breakfast with Pensee, who had been waiting in the living room and tapping her foot, obviously growing impatient.

Considering ninety percent of it was located underground, District 0 was rather large. With all of its sprawling hallways and seemingly endless rows of doors, it was very easy to get lost if you didn't know your way around. While memorizing all the routes to key locations, you simply had to remember that the entrance was on ground level (of course), the officer dormitories were on the second floor, the dining room was on the third, the spare dormitories were on the fourth, the student dormitories were on the fifth, the training center was on the sixth, the seventh and eighth were both occupational floors, and the ninth was the emergency floor. Yes, there was a tenth level, but no one except the highest-ranking officers knew what it was for.

So of course this meant that every single one of the students in training were fascinated by the mysterious "number ten," but so far only small groups were able to agree on single assumptions as what it was. At least once a day you'd hear a rumor floating through the halls, and whether it was ridiculous or not it would always be passed on, one way or another, until it was spread amongst everyone. Kelcie preferred to keep her ideas to herself, but occasionally she'd let one slip to Pensee who never told a soul. That's what was so great about her: she could keep the biggest secret in the world without even the slightest temptation to spill it.

But there _was _one theory that always kept resurfacing under the many layers of guesses and presumed facts. It was famous, and no one knew exactly who'd come up with it. Actually, it was so believable that Kelcie wondered if it really _was_ accurate.

There was a story that fifteen years ago, there had been some sort of natural disaster and everyone had had to go down to floor nine. Basically it was all one big, simple room and someone had found a door in the corner. It was painted taupe to blend in with the walls, and the only indication that it was there at all was its small, barely noticeable brass knob. Said finder had tried to open the door but, naturally, it was locked. They'd asked an officer about it but the only answer they got in return was "No such door exists." The person went back, just to make sure what they'd found wasn't some weird illusion, but sure enough, it was still there. They went to a different officer and asked about it again, but they replied the same way as the first. However, with some thorough examination, the finder had made a discovery: a slight draft was coming from the tiny crack under the door. This could only mean that the room beyond was tunnel of some sort that led outside, so they had the idea that maybe District 0 was communicating with someone…. No one knew if there were other Districts or not, but most people thought there were. In the matter of a week, the finder had written their theory that the occupants of District 0 were _hiding _from something, which would explain why they were underground, and that they were planning to attack whoever was threatening them. The finder had added to their report that the air coming from the room had smelled faintly of gunpowder.

Kelcie, personally, stuck to this and believed it could be true, and until the secret was out, if it ever was, the mystery of floor ten would remain unsolved.

And the guesses would just keep spreading like wildfire.

**AN: I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!**

**-Dare**


	3. Beneficiology

**AN: Hi everyone! Yes, I'm still alive; I apologize for not having updated in almost a month. I started school and I've been very busy, but finally I've found some time to write this chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

By the time Kelcie and Pensee arrived at breakfast, the dining hall was already filled with a sea of green-clad trainees, all shuffling around and trying to find a place to sit at one of the tables or heaping various amounts of food onto their trays. It appeared that the two friends would have to settle for the small portions of breakfast that remained on the long, wooden tables at the back of the room. This was most likely Kelcie's fault, as she had taken a bit too long to get ready that morning.

After shoving their way through the mass of students and taking what was left on the glass platters spread across the serving tables, Kelcie sat watching Pensee as she buttered a piece of toast. Rubbing her eyes, Kelcie forced herself to eat something, despite the slight nausea in the pit of her stomach. She was not in any way a morning person, and for five years she'd been wishing that she was. She envied Pensee for her ability to wake up and act like she'd gotten days of well-deserved rest.

"So…." Kelcie scooped up a small portion of scrambled eggs and wrinkled her nose before shoving them into her mouth and making herself swallow.

Pensee looked up. "So?"

Kelcie shrugged. She felt like having a conversation, just to wake her up a little more, but she couldn't think of anything to talk about.

"I can't believe we're almost halfway through with training," Pensee said. "What do you think you want to do when you graduate?"

"I don't know," Kelcie replied. "Maybe I'll apply to become an officer."

"Have you thought about it at all?" Pensee asked. Kelcie knew that she had her future fully laid out: she planned on teaching Espyology, otherwise known as foresight class. She was also considering training for an extra year, focusing entirely on her sight lessons, before applying to become a teacher.

"Yes, a lot, actually; nothing else really interests me." Kelcie pushed her plate away, unable to eat any more. She knew in two hours or so she'd be regretting it, but she didn't care.

"How could Espyology not interest you?" Pensee asked. "I mean, it's amazing!"

"That's your passion, not mine," Kelcie replied.

"Do you have a passion for combat? And defense? And fighting off whatever we're hiding from? And designing weapons and training new students and dedicating your whole life to protecting your District?"

"I-I guess so. What _is _passion anyway?"

Pensee snapped her fingers. "There. You just said it. You have no passion for it."

"I didn't say anything like that."

"Yes, you did. You don't truly know what passion feels like until you develop it."

"What does it feel like, then?" Kelcie crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Pensee.

"It's…it's a desire but it's not a desire. It's more than that, it's a dedication. It fills you with wonder and it makes it impossible for you to imagine how anyone wouldn't want to commit their lives to whatever you're passionate about."

"So like love? Really powerful love?"

"Sort of, I guess it could vary."

The truth was, Kelcie did have a passion, but she was afraid to tell anybody about it. All she wanted was to explore the outside world, and nothing else. The mystery tantalized her. Right this very second, the entrance to District 0 was two floors above her. _Two floors_. That was it. And she still couldn't make it outside.

"Pensee?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever wanted to leave?"

"Leave?"

"Like, leave the District."

"Erm, no, why?"

Kelcie shrugged.

"Do _you _want to leave?"

"Nah, I was just curious."

Pensee studied Kelcie for a moment. It felt like, to be quite honest, someone was staring into your soul. Pensee's ability to read facial expressions was almost unnatural. Kelcie was glad when she looked away, blue eyes now gazing at something across the room. "It's almost time to go," she said. She'd been looking at the clock.

Kelcie glanced over her shoulder and nodded. She picked up her plate and scraped her leftovers into a trash chute. She felt guilty for wasting food, but she just couldn't stomach anything else. Where did all of these rations come from anyway? There had been a shortage only twice during Kelcie's lifetime.

After a short walk and a few turns left and right, Kelcie and Pensee reached an elevator and traveled down to the sixth floor along with a slew of other students. The air heated quickly and Kelcie could tell that Pensee was less than comfortable. She had always had slight claustrophobia, and her being hot-natured didn't help.

Five minutes before training began, Kelcie and Pensee split up, each going to a different class. Physical training was always after mental, and Kelcie was glad. She enjoyed it much more than sitting in a classroom, and she preferred to save the best for last. Now, however, she'd have to make it through Beneficiology, and though it could be fun at times, it was also very challenging.

Since physical classes were considered more valuable than mental in District 0, only an hour and a half was spent on them. Beneficiology was fifteen minutes long, Gifts was thirty, and Espyology was forty-five. Overlap time was strictly for studying. Those without it had a greater workload after training, so those spare fifteen minutes some students were lucky enough to receive were very useful.

Kelcie sat down at her desk and followed usual procedure: she grabbed a thin wire with a needle on the end and, carefully, pressed the tip into her wrist. The ultimate objective was to make contact with blood, and Kelcie had never been told why. Beneficiology was meant to help you choose your career. You would read your own mind and get to know yourself better, see which things your brain was wired for. That was just about all you did during that fifteen minute period. There was no teacher, no instructor, no trainer, just a room full of desks with various equipment stacked onto them, and out of the metal box on the bottom protruded two wires, one with a needle and the other with a circular, sticky array of smaller cords. You would attach these smaller wires to your forehead and close your eyes before entering your literal train of thought. When the fifteen minutes were up, the machine would shut down and you would find yourself sitting in a gray cinderblock classroom once again, with a needle in your wrist and a disk of cords stuck to your forehead.

Kelcie had been taught to do this beforehand; no one wanted to stab themselves or place the wires wrongly. Delving into your mind was also a very difficult thing to do. You started Beneficiology when you were twelve, and Gifts class became fifteen minutes shorter. Kelcie didn't see why deciding on your career was so important, especially at such a young age. She could do whatever she wanted; she didn't need to put so much effort into it that she'd over think everything.

She didn't like her mind, anyway. It scared her beyond belief. And now she was about to enter it again.

**AN: Sorry if it's a little rusty. I haven't written anything since I posted chapter one, so…yeah. If you were wondering, the idea for Beneficiology came from Divergent, but it's very different than going through your fear landscape. I actually just read the first book recently and I realized how similar it is to this story, but Beneficiology is the only thing that isn't totally original. I'll try to update as soon as possible and I hope you enjoyed!**

**-Dare**


End file.
